Game Changers 4 Haiti

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    Monday
    Jul122010

    How Entrepreneurs Can Create Carbon Wealth (& Opportunity)

    This Spring I had the incredible opportunity to become involved with an organization & movement created by Richard Branson called the Carbon War Room. The Carbon War Room focuses on harnessing the power of entrepreneurs to implement market-driven solutions to climate change and thanks to Stuart Goldfarb and the Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe Team, I was able to attend the Carbon War Room's called 'Creating Carbon Wealth' held in Washington DC held at Georgetown University. 

    Here is a quick video to showcase some of what happened at this amazing gathering of people that included the founder of Earth Day, US Secretary of Commerce, the CEO of Waste Management,  the CEO (Jigar Shah) and Director of Operations (Peter Boyd) of Carbon War Room  and of course the founder of Virgin, Richard Branson. These movers and shakers are truly on a mission to make help mother earth fight this battle:

    My favorite quote and one of the most powerful statements to come out of the event was shared with us from the President of Costa Rica, Jose Maria Figueres ~ "There is no planet B!" This quote left an indelible mark on my soul and has further my resolve to push this green movement faster and more efficiently than ever before. I hope it impacts you as much as it did me.

    - iV - Green Girl

     

    Friday
    Jul022010

    Lessons from Shanghai - Relationships, Culture & Passion (Persistence)

    In the spirit of my meditation exercise program (15 minutes a day every day for over 100+ days straight so far), I’m continuing to share powerful thoughts that come across in my few moments of calm each day. These are some of key points that become apparent to me after I thought about the event, the stories that I heard and the people that I met. My Take-Aways from the The Dell Women Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) in China last week.

    Relationships are Key. To get anything done, it is CRITICAL to have ood relationships that are built on trust.  (from Sung- Joo Kim).

    Know the Culture - If you want to do business in China- must be knowledgeable about the market, people, culture.  Find good local partners. (from Yue- Sai Kan)

    Follow your Passion (& be Persistent).  99% of people will tell you your wrong anyways.  So GO FOR IT. (from Heidi Messer)

    And thanks to my producer, Lyn Graft of LG Pictures, and the great folks at dell, below is a plethora of resources and links from the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network China Experience. I so enjoyed my time with all of the DWEN women and look forward to more encounters with you in the future.

    See you on the Road!

    iV - Green Girl

    P.S. HUGE HUGE Thank you to Dell for my gorgeous Dell Vostro 3300 - I LOVE IT!!!!! Using it every day!! :-)

    iV, my Dell Vostro 3300 & my wonderful Willie G!!

    DWEN LINKS

    THE DELL WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEUR NETWORK (Bloomberg Event Site)
    http://www.bloomberglink.com/gatherings_overview.php?gathering=33

    TAKE YOUR OWN PATH (Dell Site):
    http://takeyourownpath.com/

    GETTY IMAGES DWEN PHOTOS:
    http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=101654553&EditorialProduct=News?esource=twittercorp#

    Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network 2010 FLICKR SITE
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/dellphotos/sets/72157624196432812/

    LINKEDIN GROUP FOR DWEN:
    http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2980625&trk=anet_ug_hm&goback=%2Eanh_2980625

    DWEN YOUTUBE PLAYLIST
    http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=10272425A87D4783

    DWEN TWITTER LIST
    http://twitter.com/ontheroadwithiv/dwen

    DELL FOR BUSINESS PAGE Covering DWEN
    http://www.facebook.com/DellBusiness?v=app_128627457151260&ref=ts

    PRESS
    WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE ON EVENT:
    http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20100615-906957.html?mod=wsjcrmain
     

    Thursday
    Jun242010

    Staying True to What You Truly Believe

    On my plane ride back, I was thinking about the whole The Dell Women Entrepreneur Network experience and the one that comes to mind that the trip was non stop.  Faith Brewett and the entire Dell, Intel and Bloomberg LINK team did a fabulous job creating a wonderful intimate event where can meet all of these international movers and shakers and have an unforgettable experience. The women at the conference are some of the top women entrepreneurs in the world such as Rhonda Abrams, USA TODAY; Kay Koplovitz, Founder and former CEO of USA Networks (New York); Faith Brewitt, organizer of the conference and Director of Global CSMB Communications Dell (Shanghai) and Wendy Simpson, Chairman of Westray Engineering just to name a few in the photo below. The learnings are incredible, the stories inspiring and the memories forever.  

    For example, Sung-Joo Kim, daughter of one of the weathiest families in China, shared her experience of growing up with pretty much everything she was going to need in life and all of the privileges of the rich not ever having to work. However she was touched by a divine calling if you will and really wanted to make something of herself and in pursuing her own path, her family disowned her when instead of getting married- she went to school to get a degree and started a business. She worked numerous jobs to learn her craft and meet people and was able to secure a mentor from one of the best minds in her industry. After 4 years of not talking to her dad, she went back to him and asked for a loan - NOT a gift and her father ended up giving her a $300,000 loan, which she paid back and is now one of China’s most successful businesswomen- running the SungJoo Group and MCM Holdings.

    What really struck me about this story is that many times when you have nothing to lose, the risk that you take is much less and we the fear is not as great (though it may not feel that way) versus when you have everything. Sung-Joo did in fact lose everything, even her family, but it was more important to 'take her own path', borrowing a theme from Dell, and pursue what is really important to her. It truly inspires me as I am on my path to help 'Green the World' through technology and become one of the alternative energy industy's leading ladies (Green Girl!!! :-). Go Sung-Joo Kim!!

    iV and Sung-Joo Kim in her Shanghai storeAt dinner with, from Left- Rhonda Abrams, USA TODAY; Kay Koplovitz, Founder and former CEO of USA Networks (New York); Faith Brewitt, organizer of the conference and Director of Global CSMB Communications Dell (Shanghai); Sung-Joo Kim Chairperson and CEO of the SungJoo Group (Switzerland) and Wendy Simpson, Chairman of Westray Engineering (Australia)

     

     

    Monday
    Jun212010

    Kicking off the next segment of “Building a $Billion” Blog with a trip to China!

    Just arrived here today to speak at the Dell, Intel, Bloomberg Conference for women - The Dell Women Entrepreneur Network in Shanghai, China June 20-22 as part of Dell's "Take Your Own Path" initiatives.  Dynamic, world leaders and female executives from all over the globe.  We kicked off the arrival evening with a trip to the world-famous “M” on the Bund bar and restaurant in Shaghai.  There Founder and CEO, Michelle Garnaut was quite the host.  Her own journey starting with her first restaurant in Hong Kong is quite extraordinary (short version?- she simply has a knack for spotting trends, i.e. “the hotspots” before anyone else).  Also got to hang with my amazing sister in the Billionaire Girls Club who is also here to speak, Founder of Sweetriot Chocolates, Sarah Endline.  We both continue to have a laugh that we can’t seem to make phone calls and meetings together in the States and it takes China to bring us together in person!

    One of the organizers of the conference is Stephanie Goodell.  Incredible talent and if tonight is any idea of what we can expect over the next few days- it will be extraordinary.  My goal?  To share, spread and grow interest in the green energy economy and talk about the work we at Clean Air Conversions are doing to clean up the world’s ports.  Shaghai has the world’s third largest port- and could not be a better location for discussing green tech with all its new, environmentally sound developments and focus of the World Expo.

    More to come...I LOVE the energy, creativity and ideas of all these femme founders - what a great idea to share knowledge and make the world a little closer!! 


    The view from the “M” balcony of ShanghaiWith Sarah E. and Stephanie Goodell at the “M”With Sarah Endline of Sweetriot and Michelle Garnaut, Founder and CEO of the “M” RestaurantsArriving at “M on the Bund”

    Tuesday
    Dec222009

    To the Airport, on MARTA

     Trying to catch my flight on the end of a beautiful day in Atlanta.... always find it interesting to navigate around different cities on whatever their form of public transportation is...